Nowadays, the organic EL module attracts attention as the lighting device replacing an incandescent lamp and a fluorescent lamp, and many studies are made on the organic EL module.
At this point, in the organic EL module, an organic EL device is sealed or cased. In the organic EL device, the organic EL element is stacked on substrates such as a glass substrate, a transparent resin film, and a metallic sheet, and a feeding structure is formed in order to feed power to the organic EL element.
In the organic EL element, two electrodes in which one or both the electrodes have translucency are opposed to each other, and a light emitting layer made of an organic compound is stacked between the electrodes. The organic EL device emits light by energy of recombination of an electron and a hole that are electrically excited.
That is, the organic EL module is a self-luminous device, and the organic EL module can emit the light having various wavelengths by properly selecting a material for the light emitting layer.
The organic EL module is extremely thin and light compared with the incandescent lamp, the fluorescent lamp, and an LED lighting device, and the organic EL module emits the light in a planar manner. Therefore, the organic EL module has a characteristic that there is a small constraint on an installation place. Additionally, because the organic EL module has high emission efficiency compared with the incandescent lamp and the fluorescent lamp, the organic EL module also has characteristics of low power consumption and little heat generation.
In order that the organic EL module emits the light, similarly to the incandescent lamp, the fluorescent lamp, and the LED lighting device, it is necessary to feed the power from an external power supply to apply a voltage between the two electrodes in the organic EL device.
In a lighting device proposed by Patent Document 1, a protrusion terminal is attached to an electric wire connected to a DC power supply, and the protrusion terminal is connected to the organic EL module. In the lighting device, the protrusion terminal is provided at a position corresponding to the organic EL module, and the protrusion terminal is electrically connected to the electrode in the organic EL module, whereby the organic EL modules are linearly laid without gaps to successfully emit the light similarly to a point light-emitting LED lighting device.